Dial and dial-rim of combination-locks.



W. T. BENHAM.

DIAL AND DIAL RIM OF COMBINATION LOOKS.

APPLICATION 11.31) JAIL'ZH, 1913.

1,1 1 3,866. Patented Oct. 13. 19m

INVENTOR.

A ORNE Y.

W] T NE 5555:

YHE M05255 PETERS C0. PHOID-L|THO.. IASNINGIDN. D C.

UNITED STATES.

WILLIAM r. surnames[ii sine Walkman,

t DIAL AND'DI EAI RQIMfOF ooMBINArIonooKs Specification of LettersPatent. Patentedoct 13 1914 Application med January 28,1913. Serial no,744,607. f i ii i To all whom it mag concern:

,Be it known that 1, WILLIAM T. BENHAM,

a citizen of the United States, residingat Rising Sun, in the countyjofOhio and State of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements inDials and Dial-Rims of" Combination-Locks, of which the following is aspecification. t My improvements relate to dials 1for combination locks,such as are ordinarilyused' on safes, file cases and the like.

My improvements will render the running of a combination, no matter howintricate,

so simple that combination lockscan be conveniently used not only on allplaces where heretofore found practical, but on doors of residences,stables, garages,l:factories and the like, where such locks "would befar safer than any common lock.

My improvements may be attached to any combination lock dial now in use,andlcon-j sist fundamentally of-a notched dial J rim ordinarily placedfor convenience outside of the numbered dial rim 'withanotch on the sameradius as each of the numbers or notches on th dial; and a lever fixedto the dial and having a point, wheel or the like adapted to fit intoeachof the notches of the notched rim. v

For greater accuracy and rapidity in op eration, separate means ofdetecting groups of units on the dial, as fives or tens, may beprovided. One means of accomplishing this is by placing holes at anyconvenient dis tance from center around the dial, and a pin on the diallever, adapted to enter these holes in passing, when desired.

The object of the invention is to permit the running of a combinationwithout reliance upon the sight, and if the device on the lever adaptedto enter the notches of the notched rim, is a small raw-hide roller orthe like, no sound need be made in running the combination, and entirereliance can be placed upon the sense of touch. Obviously, if a hardmetallic point was provided instead of the roller, this would cause aclicking sound when it entered each notch, so that entire reliance couldbe placed upon the sense of hearing, and if the usual figures are on thedial, the combination could be run by sight, as usual, so that any one,two

or all of the senses of sight, hearing and touch can be relied uponwhere my improvement is applied to a numbered combination lock dial. Mychief purpose, however, is to i rely upon thesense of touch only, asthen no sound will be made, and it willbe imj possible -for a ny perso'nto learn the, combi nation by hstemng to another runfit; In fact, withmy improvement, numbers on the dial would beunnecessary, or even theusual numbered gradations, and the combination could be run by anyonewhoknew it, inthe dark as well as in the light, and by persons ofdefective sight. p a i l The dials maybe numbered andnotched in theusualway, to the right only, but the. greatest convenience and accuracywill be attained by numbering thetdial bothways from, zero, asdisclosedin my application for Letters Patent in numbering .the gradu-PAT N QF ations of lock dials, SerialNumber 744,606,

filed January 28', 1 913. I

,My'invention is illustrated the accom! panying drawings, in whichnclusive, and shows my improvements adapted thereto,; F1g.2 is "avertical axial Figure l is a front elevation of a safe) I dial, numberedin both directions from a" starting po1nt,'zero, from one to twentyfive,

section through the dial and its'attach'ed" notched rim and-"peripheralflange graduated with holes, and with the lever and its attachment inposition, partly in section to show construction. The dial arbor isshown broken away. I Fig. 3 is a detail of an alternative form. ofrolling pointto. take the place of the .roller or' wheel.

. Referring now to the drawings, is the rotatable dial with knob a,andits neck a and the peripheral gage a", with a mark a for each unit ofmeasure, and numbers, 5, 1 0,

15, 20, 25 eachway from the startingpoint which indicate groups of 5units each,*in the usual way; The dial armor aisadapted to receive thetumblers (not 'shown) in: the

usual way. i p p H a A rim B around the dialproper Ahasa mark 6 toindicateto the sight the point from which rotationis started, and anannular boss 6 is provided with the notch b to indicate to the touch orhearing or both, the point from whichrotation is started, and

other notches 6 from 1 to 25 inclusive, both to the right and the left,each on a radius with oneofthe marks a of the dial A when the dial isset for beginning operation.-

, The rim B hasa flange bi -with holes 19 110 each on a radius withoneofthe numbers of the dial5, 1O, etc., when the dial is set for 3beginning operation.

"line with the notched annular boss 6 is a roller W, journaled in abracket 0 fixed to the lever G.

The lever is rotated by grasping a handle D whichis fixed to a pin d."This pin has asliding fit in the lever C, its outward move- 22 ment islimited by the collar 03 so as to keep the inner end of the pin justclear of the flange b land out of the holes 6 and the pin is held inthis position by the spring d I until pressure inward is applied to thehan- 1 dle The use, of the holesbi a-nd pin (.5 will be seen in acombination involving high numbers; fo'r example, 21. After startingfrom jce'nter, the operator would press inward on the handle Dnnti'l thepin cl hadcome to the fourth hole 6 being the one at 2O. The count wouldbefour holes and l notch, instead of 21 notches. When the'pin is not tobe used, the handle is pressed sidewise, not

inward, to rotate-the dial either to the right or the left, and thejumping of the lever as the roller passes into each of the notchesreadily enables the one running the combinationto count the notches bythe sense of touch.

1 Instead of the roller W, a ball E rotatably .mounted in; a socket efixed to the lever C, and held down to position by-a bearing 6 may beused. l/Vith a properly shaped notch this would make such' a rollingcontact as 'to make little sound,

" I claim :as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States,

, '1. A idi al for combination locks, having a Y fixed member and arotatable 'member, a

notched gage on said fixed member, a lever on: said rotatable memberwhose free end overlaps the notched gage, a roller on said lever adaptedtocontact with the notched gage and. a spring adapted "to press saidGopies of thi s patent may be obtained for i. roller against the notchedgage.

' of a fixed dial. rim with notches graduated In combination locks, thecombination therein, and holes therein indicating groups ofthese'graduationunits, and a dial adapted to rotate within said rim, havinggraduatlons and groups of its units of graduation corresponding to thoseon the run, a lever I fixed to the dial and adapted to overlap the vrim,and a pin through the lever adapted to seat in the holes in the rim.

3. A dial for combination locks, having a fixed member and a rotatablemember, a notched gage on said fixed member, a gage 'formed by a seriesof holes in said fixed member, a lever on the rotatable member whosefree end overlaps the gages on said fixed member, a roller on said leveradapted to contact with the notched gage, a spring adapted to press saidroller against the notched gage, a pin through said lever adapted toenter said holes in the fixed. member and a, spring adapted to normallyhold said pin free of said holes.

4 In combinationlocks, the combination of a rotatable dial, and a fixeddial rim, the dial being graduated and the rim having notches on radiiof the said graduations, and a lever adapted to be used in rotating saiddial,and to overlapsaid notched rim, and a rotating point on said leveradapted to seat in said notches.

5. In combination locks, the combination of'a fixed dial rim withnotches graduated therein, and holes therein indicating groups of thesegraduation units, and a dial adapted to rotate within said rim, havinggraduations and groups of its units of graduation corresponding to thoseon the rim, a lever fixed to the dial and adapted to overlap the rim, aroller on the lever adapted to seat in the notches of therim and a pinthrough the lever adapted to seat in the holes in the rim. i

6. In combination locks, the combination of a rotatable dial and a fixeddial rim, a notched gage on said rim, a gage formed by a series of holesin said rim, a lever adapted to rotate said dial whose free end overlapsthe gageson the rim, a roller on said lever adapted to seat in thenotches of the rim, a spring adapted to press said roller against thenotched gage, a pin loosely piercing said lever adapted to enter theholes in the rim and a spring adapted to normally hold said pin free ofsaid holes.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM T. BENI-IAh I. itnesses LEWIS M. HosnA, ALICE 'L. TILDERLEY.

five cents each/by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

